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Summary
- FTSE 100 index is expected to open slightly higher on Friday.
- Asian stock markets traded largely in the negative region.
- On Thursday, FTSE 100 finished at a fresh 52-week high of 6,942.22.
The headline FTSE 100 index is expected to open slightly higher on Friday, 9 April, extending the week-long sessions of gains on the hopes of domestic recovery supported by the macroeconomic data releases. The positive developments round the corner with regard to the output of services and construction in the UK has seemingly outweighed the widespread jittery among the global markets.
Earlier on Thursday, the Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI for March 2021 indicated that construction activity in the corresponding month realised steep growth led by the increase in contracts related to civil engineering, commercial work and house building ahead of the second stage reopening scheduled for 12 April.
The extent of revival in the construction activity was so much so, that it registered the sharpest growth in the reporting month since September 2014.
The ever-expanding rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine alongside the phased easements across various jurisdictions of the UK and the hopes of sooner-than-expected recovery in the enterprises that will be restarting their respective commercial operations have splurged a fresh wave of optimism amid the market participants.
Meanwhile, Asian stock markets traded largely in the negative region barring Japan’s Nikkei, that too retreated marginally in the late trade but managed to float in the green. Shanghai Composite of China shed 1.11 per cent to 3,443.82, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.25 per cent to 28,644.11, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.46 per cent to 3,128.79, Australia’s ASX 200 fell 0.12 per cent to 6,990.70 and India’s Nifty 50 dived 0.14 per cent.
The futures linked to FTSE 100 traded moderately higher at 6,905.8, up 0.20 per cent, indicating a higher start to the London equities on Friday. On Thursday, Wall Street ended largely flat with the Dow Industrials rising 0.17 per cent to 33,503.57.
